Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Kevin Brennan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevin Brennan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2015-12-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the benefits that the Growth Accelerator Programme has had for small and medium-sized enterprises since the launch of that programme.

    Anna Soubry

    The Growth Accelerator was launched as our economy was still recovering from the worst recession this country had faced in 100 years, presided over by the hon Member’s party. An interim evaluation of the Growth Accelerator programme was published in November 2014.

    Thanks to the difficult decisions made by this government and the last, we now have the fastest growing economy in the developed world and a record number of businesses and as part of our continued commitment to live within our means and pay down our debts, we took the decision to discontinue the Business Growth Service in the Spending Review.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-01-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to encourage the Lebanese government to resume the registration of Syrian refugees.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK recognises the refugee presence in Lebanon is placing great strain on the country. It is important however that those who seek refuge from the conflict in Syria are able to do so, and after fleeing are able to register as refugees in order to gain access to essential basic services. UNHCR, as the mandated UN agency to advocate for the protection and promotion of the rights of refugees, plays a crucial role in registering refugees. That is why to date, the UK has allocated £46 million to UNHCR’s operations in Lebanon, of which a proportion will go to funding registration.

    Alongside its support to UNHCR, DFID is also providing over £8 million to the Norwegian Refugee Council, a proportion of which will go to funding information, counselling and legal assistance to refugees in Lebanon to ensure they are aware of their rights and are able to access all relevant services available to them. The UK also continues to work with Government of Lebanon and UNHCR to ensure that all refugees and persons of concern are registered and receiving the help they need.

  • Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to update the Heathrow Airport London (Noise Abatement Requirements) Notice 2010 to require higher minimum rates of climb for aircraft taking off from Heathrow Airport.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The requirements are kept under review to take account of any relevant new evidence. However, I have no plans at present to update the Heathrow Airport London (Noise Abatement Requirements) Notice 2010.

  • The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The Marquess of Lothian – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by The Marquess of Lothian on 2016-03-08.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what response they have made to the plans announced by the government of Israel in January to appropriate further tracts of agricultural land in the West Bank for illegal settlement building.

    Baroness Anelay of St Johns

    While we have not raised this specific issue with the Israeli authorities, the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), issued a press statement on 22 January to express concern at the Government of Israel’s decision to declare 385 acres of land in the West Bank ‘as state land’.

    The UK’s position on settlements is clear. They are illegal under international law, present an obstacle to peace and take us further away from a two-state solution. We will continue to raise our objections to settlements with the Israeli government. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood), expressed concern in public comments and in the House of Commons at the Government of Israel’s decision of 6 January to approve the extension of the Gush Etzion settlement.

  • Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Myners – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-03-23.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much the UK contributes towards the subsidisation of sugar production.

    Lord Gardiner of Kimble

    Sugar production is not directly subsidised in the UK. However, sugar beet growers in the UK are entitled to make a claim for support under the Basic Payment Scheme of the Common Agricultural Policy.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to ensure that the next East Anglia franchise delivers greater punctuality and fewer cancellations on train services to Clacton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze.

    Claire Perry

    In the invitation tender for the East Anglia franchise we have asked bidders to come forward with proposals to improve operational performance and passenger experience during times of disruption across all the franchise services.

  • Angela Crawley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Angela Crawley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Crawley on 2016-06-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many women who have reported (a) sexual abuse and (b) rape whilst in detention have subsequently been deported in each of the last three years.

    James Brokenshire

    All complaints made by detainees are investigated by the relevant supplier in accordance with Detention Services Order 03/2015 ‘Handling complaints’. Any allegations of serious misconduct made by a detainee against staff are also referred to the Home Office Professional Standards Unit (PSU) for investigation. Where a detainee, or someone on behalf of a detainee, alleges that a member of staff has committed a sexual offence against them the police will automatically be notified, even if the detainee does not wish the matter to be reported or to make a formal complaint.

    Management information shows that there have been six allegations of sexual assault made by detainees against staff at Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre between 2013 and 2015. Of these six allegations, one was made in 2013, three in 2014 and two in 2015.

    In the same period there have been two Home Office PSU investigations into allegations of sexual assault made by detainees against staff in other immigration removal centres. Both allegations were made in 2015. There have been no allegations of rape made by a detainee against staff at any immigration removal centre during this period.

    This is provisional management information that is subject to change. It has not been assured to the standard of Official Statistics.

    Information on the number of women who have been deported following an allegation of sexual abuse or rape while in detention is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

  • Lord Tanlaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    Lord Tanlaw – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Tanlaw on 2016-09-05.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to identify accurately the GPS Prime Meridian with a corresponding marker at the correct location in Greenwich Park.

    Baroness Neville-Rolfe

    As the reference frame for the Global Positioning System (GPS) is established through a mathematical interpretation of satellite radio signals, rather than a physical meridian, it is not conceptually appropriate to represent it in the same way as other meridians have historically been marked at Greenwich.

  • David Burrowes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    David Burrowes – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Burrowes on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons refugees with disabilities who have been deemed entitled to disability living allowance have different backdating entitlements depending on whether their claim happened to be stockpiled before or after the Upper Tribunal ruling of 17 March 2016 on the past presence test.

    Penny Mordaunt

    No claims were stockpiled before the Upper Tribunal ruling of 17 March 2016, 40 Disability Living Allowance claims were stockpiled after the ruling.

    Section 27 of the Social Security Act 1998 provides that, where the Upper Tribunal decides on a social security appeal that the Secretary of State has made an error of law in his original decision and other claims subsequently fall to be decided by the Secretary of State, the judgment generally is not to be applied in relation to any period that predates the Upper Tribunal’s decision (s.27(3)). This statutory rule does not apply to the person who brought the original appeal, to people who have already lodged an appeal against a decision or who are still in time to do so, or to people whose case the Secretary of State has stockpiled (or whose appeal he has stayed) pending the judgment under section 25 of the Act.

  • Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Callum McCaig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Callum McCaig on 2015-11-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent steps she has taken to continue to ensure the security of the electricity supply in the UK.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The government takes security of supply very seriously. We have worked with National Grid and Ofgem to put an effective plan in place for this winter and we are already taking prudent steps to manage margins in winter 2016/17.

    DECC officials have worked with National Grid and Ofgem on National Grid’s winter outlook process for 15/16 which has informed the procurement of the Contingency Balancing Reserve for this winter.

    National Grid and Ofgem agree that Grid should retain the ability to procure the contingency balancing services for the next two winters and the Government supports this position. On 15 October, Ofgem commenced its consultation on the extension of the cost recovery arrangements for the contingency balancing services to allow National Grid’s contingency balancing services to continue for the winters prior to the introduction of the Capacity Market in 18/19. National Grid’s Tender for the Contingency Balancing Reserve (subject to the outcome of the Ofgem consultation) opened on 2 November.

    The Capacity Market, a key part of our reform of the electricity market, will drive new investment in gas and demand side capacity in the future. The first Capacity Market auction was successfully concluded in December 2014 and the next will commence on 8December 2015. We have announced our intention to procure a total of 47.9GW capacity for the delivery year 2019/20 and that the target capacity for the auction this December will be 45.4GW. The balance (2.5 GW) will be procured in 2018, one year ahead of delivery.